Fresh Tart

Party Crasher, that's me! John's law firm hosted a meet-n-greet with an accounting firm last night and with permission (I wasn't a total crasher), I happily horned in on the delicious appetizers (catered by the Modern Cafe), vino, and chat. Organized by John's partner Jennie Clark, who is on the board of the Minnesota Center for Photography, the event was held at...the Minnesota Center for Photography! Terrific space, with a stunning current exhibit (Three Gorges), I had a great time and stayed (crashed!) just long enough for John and me to snag Stu The Wine Genius and drag him out for dinner with us. The MCP is in NE Minneapolis, and Stu remembered the fun dinner at The Sample Room we'd had with his wife Debbie, Rudy Maxa, and Ana Scofield (our pre-Napa planning dinner), so we bopped over there for casual eats. Setting = lovely, food = not so much, but we had a great time anyhow and dished on Tuesday night's Commanderie dinner, so it was all good, all good.

Today, Friday Morning Coffee with Suz, of course. More upbeat than a couple of weeks ago (we didn't cover the Holocaust or talk politics today), we were back to our usual shrieking and howling primly (bah ha ha!) about bodily fluids, oh yeah! Not so great for anyone near us trying to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee, but fabulous for my frozen winter spirits! All hail Suz the Metal Mommy!

Since I've eaten out no less than four times this week - FOUR - I'm mos def making din tonight. It's my turn for a go at the Watercress Soup with Gentleman's Relish Toast recipe I posted a few weeks back. I'm grilling the lamb chops too, oh yeah, we'll be ushering in the weekend in fine (watercressy, lamby) style.

Enjoy yours!

Ah, I'm back, and so quickly! Ha. Now, dinner with Rudy & Ana and Stu & Debbie at The Sample Room this past Monday night. What a BLAST! I'd not been to The Sample Room before, it's absolutely worth a trip over to NE. Great place for a group, casual, funky, with a very friendly and knowledgeable staff. They're having fun and it's apparent. The "sample" concept makes up half the menu - a tapas-style, small-plate listing of various meat, fish, cheese, and vegetable dishes. The options for putting together large platters for a group or small platters for individual meals are very clever. I opted for the small platter option - choose any four tapas. Fried walleye, broiled shrimp, steamed green beans with spicy almond butter, and baked camembert cheese. Yum! We shared a couple of roasted vegetable salads for the table. And could have ordered entrees off the other half of the menu - but the sampling concept was too tempting. We also sampled plenty of fabulous wine, thanks to Stu and Rudy, oh my. Did I write any of it down? Hell no, I was too busy talking and eating, as usual! The six of us are heading to Napa Valley together soon so we had plenty of chatting to do about the various sights and tastes we're planning to experience. Suffice it to say, it's going to be a beautiful, unforgettable trip; I can't wait. I'm having a bit of an affair with California this spring, eh? It's been heavenly, I love Cali and so far it loves me right back. Rarrr...